A former El Paso County public defender waived his right to a preliminary hearing Thursday after being arrested in November for allegedly having sex with a child.

Thomas Cushing, 26, was arrested Nov. 22 and faces one charge of sexual assault against a child, according to court records.

An affidavit for Cushing’s arrest details that he met with the victim, who was 14 years old at the time, on two different occasions for sexual intercourse. The affidavit also confirms that Cushing worked as a public defender, and had told the victim “his job was very important and involved ‘classified work.’”

Cushing and the victim met through the dating application Grindr months before meeting in person, but spoke primarily on the messaging platform Discord, according to the affidavit.

The affidavit states that the victim told Cushing that she was 18 years old, but had made it clear that she was a high school student who was still living with her legal guardians. The affidavit goes on to state that the two times the victim and Cushing met in person in late October and early November — when Cushing is alleged to have had sexual intercourse with the victim numerous times — he picked up the victim from a side door of her school.

There are several sexual messages included in the affidavit between Cushing and the victim prior to the two meeting in person.

Police note within the affidavit that the victim had several bruises and hickeys from her last encounter with Cushing.

Cushing appeared to court on Thursday out of custody after posting a $25,000 surety bond to be released after his arrest. Cushing’s attorney, Josh Tolini, told the court that they would be waiving Cushing’s preliminary hearing to continue negotiations with the prosecution.

Cushing will return to court March 20 for an arraignment hearing.

At the time of Cushing’s arrest James Karbach, a spokesman for the Colorado State Public Defender’s Office, confirmed to The Gazette that Cushing no longer worked at the public defender’s office, but declined to comment further.